Meet Benny Chris and their Hats

Chris and Benny here readers, although we suspect you don't know who we are, as we think our arrival at Bears Unlimited may have been overlooked.

I'm on the left and I'm Chris, so named as I have Christmas tattoos on my lower paws: a holly leaf on my right paw and the words Merry Christmas on my left. An important fact for later in the story, is that I used to have a lovely hat to go with the scarf you see me wearing.

I came to join B.U. after being left on my female minder's desk at work by a colleague, whose daughter was throwing me out! I had no idea what I'd done to
deserve this rejection, but thankfully this traumatic experience turned out very well, as I was delivered to a real bear lover who truly understands bears.

I was warmly welcomed to Bears Unlimited by all the guys and gals and I settled in well. When I saw how industrious they all were, I didn't want to simply be a passenger, and thought long and hard about how I could contribute. As I'd seen my minder's office, I thought that was a place where there was lots to do, and so I became an office bear.

Over to Benny now.

I'm Benny, on the right, and I travelled a long way to join Bears Unlimited. Look at my sweatshirt and you will see that I was a resident of the Falklands Islands. I needed my sweatshirt to keep me warm there and I could also have done with a hat, although I've never had one.

I was brought to England by a kind man who spent a few weeks working in the Falklands a while back. He knows my minders as he plays badminton with them. He knew all about their bear friendly natures and so, when he saw me, thought to himself that he knew just the person who would appreciate me and give me a good home. And so, I came to Norfolk in his luggage.

Like Chris I quickly settled in to B.U. (who wouldn't?) and Chris was one of the first bears I met. We hit it off straight away especially as we are a similar size and we had being hatless in common. Chris explained that as an office bear, he only came home to the Bear Cave at the weekend and spent weekday evenings with other bears and 'furries' in the office.

As he had such a responsible job, I asked if he might like an assistant, especially to keep him company, and he thought this was a great idea. We've been working together ever since, travelling home at the weekends.

When I first met Chris he had a lovely hat which matched his scarf and he was very proud of it. Sadly it got lost earlier this year when the snow came, when he most needed it. We searched high and low but have never found it. I was very sad for Chris.

However, this is a story with a happy ending.

Our Harpenden Granny who is a great knitter, kindly agreed to have a go at knitting us both a hat using a hat belonging to our friend Noel as a template. We tried not to get our hopes up, as knitting hats for bears is not her usual knitting activity, but we got very excited yesterday when a parcel from Harpenden arrived addressed to us.

Although it was only Thursday and we weren't due home until Friday, we were allowed a special trip home to open our parcel. We were thrilled with our new hats and you can see just how fine they are ...

We love the colours and Chris's matches his scarf really well. Having contrasting stripes makes them extra special and it is great that they are roomy enough to store a marmalade sandwich in true Paddington style.

Thank you Harpenden granny, we are prepared now for whatever the weather throws at us now and we will take special care of them - no more lost hats for us.

Lots of love

Chris and Benny xxx

Meet Patrick

Hello, my name is Patrick and as you can guess from the Shamrock on my paw and the slight Guinness tummy, I hail from the Emerald Isle.  So how you might ask how did a bear who has obviously kissed the Blarney Stone, end up on the other side of Britain, as a member of Bears Unlimited Norfolk Branch?

Well part of my story was told by boating bear Eddie back in January 2008.  Not a good time to go boating is January, and it wasn’t a boating trip,  but Eddie came over to Northern Ireland, with George and Yorkie to visit friends of theirs, John and Emily, whom he had been sailing with in the Greek Isles in  2005 and 2007.   On their arrival at the house in Ballycastle, who was there to greet them but me! 

Emily had thought that the boys and girls at BU needed to experience a bit of Irish Charm and went out to find a fine example. After searching high and low and interviewing a number of bears, she decided that I totally fitted the bill and was sure that I would fit in nicely with all her bear friends. 

Emily is an excellent judge of character and she was right, the four of us hit it off  straight away and, whilst in Northern Ireland, I was able to give them all a fantastic Irish time, introducing them the best of Irish food, scenery and the finest Bushmills Irish Whisky and, of course, Guinness!

We had such a good time that I just didn’t want it to stop.  I hesitatingly asked  the guys if there might be a space for me in the Norfolk Branch of Bears Unlimited?  Their faces split into big grins, because that had been Emily’s plan all along; that if my face had fitted, I would head off with them back to England.  No sooner had they said a resounding ‘yes’ than my bag was packed and I was ready to go.

Within a few hours we were on the plane and off to England and my new home with the Norfolk branch.  A whirlwind of introductions followed and I couldn’t get over how many bears there were – I thought I would never remember all the names, and that was before I met  all the Suffolk and Midland Branch members.

I settled in quickly and have never looked back.  While we naturally had many shared interests, I have taken a great pleasure in introducing my friends to a new (to them) hobby which, being Irish, is a real passion  of mine, and that is horse racing. I was thrilled to discover that my new home was only 9 miles down the road from the racecourse at Fakenham. I asked the chaps what it was like and was astounded to hear that they had never been.

I looked up the next meeting and took everyone along. What an afternoon we had. I was able to give the chaps lots of inside information and really opened their eyes to this great sport. After just one afternoon they were hooked and, as you will know from the main blog, racecourse memberships as last year’s and indeed this year’s Christmas presents quickly followed.

While horse racing is my main hobby I am also very partial to some good craic preferably over a pint of Guinness. The Norfolk chaps always provide a good audience for my stories and never seem to tire of my jokes and even better, they’re always ready to join me for a pint. They also enjoy watching my second favourite sport, rugby football. The fact that we support 4 different teams between us, just makes life interesting and a bit of friendly rivalry does add a bit of spice to life.

Norfolk might be some distance from Ireland, and while I’ll always be a patriotic Irish bear, I can honestly say I’ve never regretted my move to Norfolk. 

Thanks guys and girls for making me so welcome.

Patrick

Meet the next member of the Midlands Branch - Poo

Hi my name is Poo and, like all of my kind, I have a particular love of Honey. Whenever I visit the Norfolk Branch, I always get the boys to provide me with a new jar of the very best Honey I know, that is, Burgh Pava Hall Honey. The bee keeper, Judy, is a good friend of the Norfolk Branch minders, and her honey is just wonderful. On our main blog www.bearsunlimited.org we told our readers, that as our new year's resolution, we would write a monthly post on this biographies blog, until we have a complete biography for each and every member of Bears Unlimited, so here is my story. The tale of how I became a member of Bears Unlimited is a sad tale, but one with a very happy ending. I was brought up in a normal home with a minder of whom I was fond. One day we went for a walk along the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire. As we were walking along, I smelt some honey and went off to investigate. Up in a tree I saw a bees' nest and decided to climb up and get some honey. While I was occupied, I didn't realise that the others had gone on with out me! I was devastated, but thought if I wait long enough, they will come back and get me. I waited and waited and waited, night came and they still had not come back. The next day I had a good think, and thought, well I could go looking for them or I could stay put, because they were bound to come back for me. After all, I had a good supply of honey and plenty of water, so I wasn't going to starve, and from my vantage point in the tree, I had a good view of the towpath and the canal. I could watch all the boats coming and going, as well as the walkers along the towpath. But, as the days and nights passed, and my minder had still not come back to get me, I realised that I was lost for good, and would have to make my own way in the world. To make matters worse, the honey was beginning to run out. I was just about at rock bottom. Just then, my prayers were answered, when I saw a wonderful sight. It was a yellow and maroon narrowboat called Eric. At its stern flew a green flag with a brown bear on it, and at the tiller was a very happy looking bear, who I later discovered was called Eddie. I then noticed that, sitting in a life ring on top of the boat's roof, were a whole host of other bears. Was I dreaming, or had I died and gone to bear heaven? I shut my eyes very tightly and opened them again, and sure enough they were still there. And so at the top of my voice I shouted HELP! The boat carried on, they hadn't heard me so I shouted HELP! again and again.I was shouting so hard that I nearly fell out of the tree. Eventually my cries were heard, and with great skill Eddie manoeuvred ERIC under my tree. He then ran down the boat and gave me a paw down to the boat roof. All the other bears crowded around me and took me into the cabin where they gave me a huge meal, including lots of honey, and I told them my sad tale. They then told me all about Bears Unlimited and the adventures they get up to. They told me that I'd be very welcome to join them and, bearing in mind the place where I was found, suggested that the Midlands Branch might be the best one for me to join. And that's just what I did. Its amazing to think that this all took place nearly four years ago now, as it feels like I've been member of the Midlands Branch for ever. Over this time I have had many adventures with all the others at Bears Unlimited, some of which have been told on the main blog. At present I am learning how to be a bee keeper and produce my own Honey, initaly to supply all at BU with honey and if all goes well to produce enough to market Poo's Finest Bears Unlimited Honey. I hope you liked my story. Love Poo xxxx

Polar

Hi Folks my name is Polar and I am just the bear for these types of conditions, when the snow is on the ground and the thermometer reads -4 Although I am a member of the Midlands Branch of Bears Unlimited, this picture was taken from the window of the Norfolk Branch Bear Cave, where I am staying at the moment after being left behind following a trip to Norfolk back in October 2010 (You can read all about it on the Bears Unlimited website by following this link Forgotten. Like all beany bears I love to spend time sunning myself in a microwave so I can then keep people warm. I think having a beany bear or a fine reindeer hottie like my good friend Randolph to keep you warm is far better than using a plain old bean bag or hot water bottle. Sadly though my minders at the Midlands Branch just don't see it that way and use a bean bag. However, life is not all bad I have fantastic friends in the Midlands Branch and when ever I come to Norfolk I am always in great demand. Also being part of Bears Unlimited means that I get to go on alsorts of exciting adventures like my trip a few years ago on the Avon Ring on the good boat Muscovy, skippered by my good friend Eddie. Love Polar

Blue Bear

Hi Folks, Jimmy said that we hadn't had a biography for a few months and so asked me to write a few words about myself. My name is Blue Bear and I am the gentle giant of the Bears Unlimited family. I joined BU whilst they were based in Ispwich, being asked to join the gang by Ungi as he saw the need for someone with a mechanical turn of mind within the organisation. I immediately turned my attention to looking after the Bearmobiles and love nothing better than tinkering with an engine or giving one of the Bearmobiles a good polish. As you can see in this picture I am doing a major repair to a previous Bearmobile. When not keeping the Bearmobiles in top condition I am a keen on trying to reduce our carbon footprint. I also have a very keen interest in Steam Engines and help out at the local steam railway and try and visit other railways whenever I can. At the end of a busy day on the footplate I like nothing more that going for a swim, swimming out to meet Eddie in his Seal Boat who is always prepared to give me a lift home. I hope you like my post Love Blue Bear.

TBB

Hi folks my name is Teddy Bear Bill or TBB for short. Let me tell you a little about myself. I was born in Norfolk and given to my minder (who was over 60) one Christmas. The story goes that he and his younger brother never had bears when they were young, so one day their sister-in-law decided to rectify the situation and presented them both with a bear for Christmas. I was very happy to be given to my minder and came with a crown of tinsel, and went to live with him in Hertfordshire. Living in the same house were Jimmy, Turtle, Kissing Cousins and various other bears. Jimmy had just retired from a busy career in Business, running a number of very large international firms, and was planning a long hibernate, but before he did this he made me feel very welcome and much loved. Following his hibe(a)rnation I assisted Jimmy in forming the organisation that was eventually to become Bears Unlimited, although Bears Unlimited as we know it today, did not come into being until Jimmy had moved to Suffolk with his minder, and carried out the major merger with a local bear organisation in April 2002 which created Bears Unlimited in its present form. Jimmy then moved north to Norfolk and the Norfolk branch and Company head office was opened. With the opening of Head Office many of the Hertfordshire members began to relocate to help run the business, until I was the only one left. So with my minders blessing, I decided to move on a semi-permanent basis to join new friends and former Hertfordshire Branch members at the Norfolk Branch. However, whenever I can, I still like to pop back to visit my minders or invite them to come up to Norfolk to see us all. Like all of the members of Bears Unlimited, I have many roles in the business, but my main one is to look after the B.U. cellar, and ensure that all the Wherry is kept in tip top condition. However, being a bit of a real ale Connoisseur, I always like to try new and different ales as well. I can then produce tasting notes for all the Chaps which are also used by George and Yorkie in their articles on pubs and beer in the friendly planet guide. Love TBB

Eddie

Hello friends. I'm Eddie and I'm best known as the boating bear. I run seal trips for Bears Unlimited and am never happier than when I'm in a boat. I love them all: sailing boats, canal boats, fishing boats, canoes, anything boat shaped that I can get my paws on will do. As you see in my introductory here I am in the cockpit of a very fine Jaguar 27 called Spetsis, sailing in the Ionian sea of Greece, When not boating I am planing my next trip often over a pint of my favourite Woodforde's Wherry Beer. It is thirsty work working for Bears Unlimited and we get through so much at the end of a hard day's work that the brewery lorry is frequently to be seen pulling in to our drive.Woodforde's will deliver their delicious beer all over the country so we thought we'd include a link to their site http://www.woodfordes.com/ , also we're secretly hoping that the nice people at Woodforde's will be so pleased with the free publicity we're giving them that they'll send us some complimentary supplies. Are we being unrealistic?All this typing has made me thirsty so bye for now.LoveEddiexxx